Dead Voices by Katherine Arden nzherald.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nzherald.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
If you want to truly embrace the terror and beauty of winter, a Russian-inflected modern folktale should do the trick. In Katherine Arden’s
The Bear and the Nightingale we meet Vasilisa Petrovna, who has no wish to marry. She grew up on tales of Frost Demons, rusalka, all that is wild and magical in the dark and frozen forests including the great Bear, who is gathering his power in the darkness beyond the village. Enter the stepmother, who agrees with the village priests that following the ancient ways will lead to Hell; she wants to see her new daughters packed off to convents, where devotion to God will cure them, or wed, where lives as wives will keep them too busy to bother with uncanny spirits and old lore. When a blizzard freezes the village, everyone Vasya loves faces certain starvation. The young woman will have to defy her stepmother and the priest to ally with every “demonic” force who’s willing to help her before the Bear destroys them all.
We fill you in on what worked for us. By Aoife Barry Thursday 31 Dec 2020, 9:30 AM Dec 31st 2020, 9:30 AM 13,412 Views 36 Comments
Image: Shutterstock/Evgeny Atamanenko
Image: Shutterstock/Evgeny Atamanenko
A BOOK IS a portal to another place – a way to escape. You can jump into the past, explore the future, or take a sidestep into someone else’s life in just a few pages.
So what with 2020 being, well, the year that it was, it’s no surprise that many of us turned to books to get a bit of a break.
Conal:
“I re-read all of the Montalbano detective series, read Dario Fo’s plays and, most recently, Hannah Arendt’s report of Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem which absolutely did not bring me comfort but was very good. Camilleri’s lovable detective Salvo Montalbano is a tonic. The novels transport the r
Girl Woman Other by Bernadine Evaristo (Penguin £8.99) This has been our bestselling book of the year. It is a snapshot of Modern Britain through the lives of twelve interconnected women. The diverse voices weave a story of how a nation has developed. It is hopeful, as we see acceptance and opportunity and past wrongs addressed and prejudices challenged. Each woman has her own individual voice. It is definitely a novel for our times and has been a reading group favourite all year.
Silver By Chris Hammer (Headline £8.99) Last year I discovered Chris Hammer’s Scrublands and raved about it on these very pages. So I am excited to announce he has a new book out: Silver. Martin Scarsden, who we met in the first book, is returning to his home town to start a new life. But the past soon starts to catch up with him and he has a lot of mysteries to unravel if he is ever going to be able to settle down. Full of twists, turns and great Australian characters it will have you double gue
Programs with the Brookline Library
Community Content
The Public Library of Brookline has expanded hours for contactless pickup at all three locations.
Brookline Village: 9:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Fridays through Saturdays.
Coolidge Corner: 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Fridays through Saturdays.
Putterham: 9:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Fridays through Saturdays.
All locations will remain closed on Sundays. The library will continue to offer reference services via phone, email and chat 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays.